If you’re looking to read more Scottish books or books by Scottish authors, here’s a small but mighty pile I’ve really enjoyed recently.
There’s a lot of history here, a lot of sharpness, and a lot of beautiful, poetic prose from crime thrillers to historical fiction.
Hex by Jenni Fagan: Poetic and visceral witchcraft tale
This a short but intense novel that sits right at the centre of the Jacobean witch paranoia whipped up by James I. We spend the final night before her execution in a condemned woman’s cell in Edinburgh, watching the human cost of the North Berwick witch trials unfold up close. The book uses real people and real historical context, which makes it genuinely chilling: accusations snowball, torture forces confessions, and moral panic destroys lives.
A shadowy figure from the future, Iris, bridges Geillis’s fate with the lives of women today, grounding the story in feminism as much as history.
Jenni Fagan is a poet and you can feel it: the language is beautiful, especially when she’s writing about nature and animals.
Rizzio by Denise Mina: David Rizzio’s brutal murder
This novella zooms in on one brutal historical moment: the murder of David Rizzio, confidante to Mary Queen of Scots, assassinated by Darnley and his co-conspirators in front of the pregnant Queen.
Mina explores the scheming, the confidence, and then the awful reality of what they’ve actually done: the feelings in the room, the fractures between the conspirators, and the consequences that follow. It also digs into the religious extremism of the time and why a Catholic Queen was so threatening.
Lyrical, raw, and psychologically convincing, this novella really packs a punch.
Not to Disturb by Muriel Spark: Murderous mansion staff
I’ve been on a bit of a Muriel Spark binge with this Scottish queen of crime!
This book is a deliciously nasty little book about a house of servants in Switzerland who appear to be calmly waiting for their employers to die. They’re recording confessions, rehearsing narratives, and planning their escape from servitude while chaos simmers behind closed doors.
The dialogue is eccentric, the structure is strange, and plenty is left unexplained, but that’s part of the joy. It feels like watching an intelligent, slightly bonkers play where crime fiction conventions are bent out of shape!
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark: Death amongst the elderly
This book might be peak Spark. A group of elderly friends, lovers, and ex-lovers start receiving anonymous phone calls telling them, very calmly, “Remember you must die.”
A retired police officer investigates, people do die, but this is not a neat crime novel. It’s messy, funny, bleak, and surprisingly invigorating.
Spark’s focus on ageing characters is rare and refreshing, and her dialogue-heavy style lets their vanity, cruelty, humour, and tenderness coexist. Hard to summarise, impossible to forget.
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady: Autism memoir
This is a gritty, unflinching memoir about growing up as an autistic woman without knowing it, and eventually getting answers. What if I would have understood this part of myself sooner?
Fern’s voice is candid, funny, and sharp, whether she’s writing about meltdowns, relationships, the comedy circuit, stripping, retail work, or growing up in Scotland.
She’s brilliant at laying out her thought processes and exposing the gaps in societal expectations without becoming preachy. It’s often hilarious, sometimes very dark, and genuinely important. You come away with a lot more empathy, as well as admiration for her honesty and clarity.
A Highland Christmas by M.C. Beaton: Cosy Christmas caper
This is a much cosier, festive read from M.C Beaton (originally from Glasgow). This is a cosy crime novel set in the Highlands. The mysteries are low-stakes (lost cats, missing Christmas lights, a stolen tree), and the real pleasure lies in Inspector Hamish Macbeth’s understated presence and his conversations with the local villagers. Some elements feel dated, but that adds a nostalgic charm. Light, comforting, and perfect for the festive season.
Altogether, these books show off a wide range of Scottish writing: historical brutality, sharp satire, cosy crime, and deeply personal memoir. Well worth your time if you’re in the mood for something distinctive, unsettling, funny, or quietly powerful.
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